Jewelry expert Jennifer Heebner has written about the increasing popularity of heart-shaped gems. As Jennifer points out, hearts in jewelry tend to be a love ’em or hate ’em kind of thing. I used to fall into the latter camp, because I had only seen poorly cut or poorly set stones that looked more like…
gems
October’s Other Birthstone: Tourmaline
October has two birthstones: opal and tourmaline. I’ve already done two posts about opal jewelry, so it’s time to give tourmaline some love. Tourmaline comes in a variety of colors, and I have two on display in the toi et moi ring I recently created for my friend Monica Stephenson’s ANZA Gems project. Can't get…
Jewels of the Month: Your Own Opal Designs
September’s Jewels of the Month post featured one of October’s birthstones, the opal. Because the ring, necklace and earring designs I was showing have to be made to order, I figured I’d give people shopping for an October birthday a little bit of a head start. While I was working on that post, I kept…
Jewels of the Month: Order Your Opals for October
Can you believe September is almost over? That means it’s a good time for the official debut of my opal birthstone jewelry, now available by special order for October birthdays and beyond. I’ve been working on this little suite of designs all year. You’ve had glimpses of the collection since March when I started wearing…
Wednesday’s Video: Engagement-Ring Advice
I’ve written about the problems of using nontraditional gems in engagement rings: People are just too tough on everyday rings to mess around with pearls! That’s why I prefer to use only the hardest gems in engagement rings. Diamonds, for instance, rate a perfect 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, while rubies and sapphires (aka…
Jewel of the Month: Toi et Moi Ring for ANZA Gems
For a long time, the primary birthstone for the month of August was the beautiful green peridot. Accordingly, the ring that I’ve chosen for this August’s Jewel of the Month features a beautiful green … tourmaline. Ha! Fooled ya! Check out the new design in this video by A Thousand Facets. Absolutely stunning ring by…
Flashback Friday: Pearls From the Past
The last day of June is a good excuse for one more post about the month’s birthstone, the pearl. I made this one-of-a-kind pair of pearl earrings in 2008. The pearls are set in 18K yellow gold and accented by 83 points of black diamonds (there are 100 points in a carat). It’s a much…
Beware of Nontraditional Gems in Engagement Rings
I’m both a fan and a designer of nontraditional engagement rings. (In fact, my first big jewelry design — before I was even in the jewelry business — was my own unusual ring.) Therefore, if you don’t want a diamond in your ring, I will happily come up with suggestions for you. That said, there…
Jewel of the Month: September’s Birthstone, Sapphire
Most people think of sapphire — September’s birthstone — as a blue gem, but it comes in a range of colors. Pink is one of my favorites. In fact, I used 262 one-millimeter pink sapphires in my Pink Elephant and Tipsy Writer Maneater ring. Nevertheless, with sapphires in mind, I decided to wear blue for…
Spinel Is a New August Birthstone
Well, hello spinel! Earlier this summer, two fine-jewelry trade groups — American Gem Trade Association and Jewelers of America — announced that spinel would join peridot as a birthstone for August. I love the vibrant yellow-green hue of peridot. I used it in my Susan chandelier-earring design. But peridot is always some shade of green,…